This past weekend was the East Bay Bonsai Society’s annual show in Oakland, CA, where I gave a talk about conceptual bonsai and ran a couple workshops. And I critiqued the show.
The following photos are from the EBBS show and from the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, which was only a 2-minute walk from the show venue.
East Bay Bonsai Society annual show. The closest trees are Crepe Myrtle, right, and California Juniper, left.
Japanese Black Pine.
Bougainvillea. This display is from a first-year bonsai practitioner, an impressive effort. Applause to EBBS for being welcoming to bonsai newcomers.
Full Moon Maple.
Japanese Black Pine.
Shimpaku (left), Pyracantha (top), Potentilla (middle left), Trident Maple (middle right), Crab Apple (with berries), Black Pine (lower right).
The Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt. I hadn’t seen these trees in more than a decade and found them doing very well.
I was most eager to see this one, a well-known Bay Area tree from the great Mas Imaizumi. It’s an imported Japanese Black Pine of immense age.
Detail of bark on the Imaizumi pine.
Another large, old tree, a Korean Hornbeam.
A display of small bonsai.
San Jose Juniper.
Sierra Juniper. Many of the bonsai at Lake Merritt are natives.
Coast Redwood.
A particularly nice addition at Lake Merritt is a display of stones. This 10” high stone was found in northern California by Mas Nakajima, who also made the base. The stone is called “Out of the Blue.”